A robot in the Advanced Mobility Lab at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) .

A Caltech panel on the future of autonomous technology provided a bit good news and bad news Wednesday evening.

The panel of professors from Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies were unequivocal that robots with free will, the ones most likely to try to overthrow their human overlords, will not become reality any time soon. Machines may have the computational speeds to outmatch humans already, but they are way behind when it comes to simulating our complex decision making skills and reactionary instincts, according to the panel moderated by radio host and Caltech graduate Sandra Tsing Loh.

Still, even if we’ve postponed annihilation, the ripple effects of autonomous systems are not that far off, they said.

Cassie, a robot by Agility Robotics, walks through the Aerodrome at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) .

Aaron Ames, prof. of mechanical and civil engineering and control and dynamical systems, shows Cassie, a robot by Agility Robotics, at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) .

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An ambulance drone flies through the Aerodrome at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) .

Aaron Ames, prof. of mechanical and civil engineering and control and dynamical systems, takes Cassie, a robot by Agility Robotics, for a walk around Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) .

Graduate student Rachel Gehlhar shows how the Ampro 3 prosthetic works at the Advanced Mobility Lab in Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) .

A robot in the Advanced Mobility Lab at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) .

Cassie, a robot by Agility Robotics, walks through the Aerodrome at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) .

An ambulance drone lands in the Aerodrome at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) .

Cassie, a robot by Agility Robotics, walks through the Aerodrome at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG) .

Aaron Ames, a professor working on a Caltech “moonshot” to build a robot capable of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail said the robot work force will continue to grow and replace humans who perform repetitive tasks.

Though he acknowledged there will be human job losses, Ames said he believed a surge in autonomous workers would create more opportunities for the people who can build, maintain and program those robots. And if there’s enough of a push for more training in those fields now, the net effect might still be in our favor.

In the next five to ten years, autonomous systems will further augment our day-to-day lives personally and professionally, according to the panel.

Ames sees the progression of autonomous systems as an inverse of computers. The most immediate technologies will start small, in our watches and cell phones and tablets, and then become larger and more complex.

Think smart knee braces and more advanced digital assistants like Siri in the beginning, he said. The robot butlers come much later.

At Caltech, they’re already working on technologies like artificial legs capable of matching a person’s natural gait and exoskeletons that lessen the strains of heavy labor.

Graduate student Rachel Gehlhar shows how the Ampro 3 prosthetic works at the Advanced Mobility Lab in Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems Technologies (CAST) during a tour of the new facility on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)<br />.

In the next decade, “there should be no more wheelchairs,” Ames said. “People who have strokes or back injuries should not worry about walking.”

Yisong Yue, assistant professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, expects we will also see a rise in computer-assisted roles, particularly for medical procedures. Certain tasks, such as suturing a patient following surgery, will shift to being performed by machines, he said.

“The vast majority of the cost that comes with things like surgery is from human error,” Yue said.

In nursing homes, artificial intelligence monitoring body cues for changes in health could reduce the cost of caring for growing elderly populations, particularly in countries like China, he said.

And then there’s the booming industry behind smart assistants like Siri, Alexa and Cortana.

Anima Anandkumar, a professor of computing and mathematical sciences, said the all-knowing algorithms that govern those assistants, our Netflix queues and our Amazon shopping lists are going embed further into our lives. They will schedule meetings, monitor our health and handle other mundane tasks, she said.

There will be a world personalized for each of us by the watchful eye of a digital best friend, she said.

“That’s one important area that I see immediate growth,” she said. “We’ll see more personalization on all fronts.”

Besides the obvious concerns about privacy and network security, the field must first overcome a disconnect between the mind and body of robotics. Caltech is trying to solve that problem with CAST, by intermingling researchers and engineers from departments that historically worked independently.

They created CAST’s “Moonshots” as a driving force. These grand plans include Ames’ hiking bot; flying autonomous ambulances that bypass Los Angeles’ gridlock; and swarm of drones coordinating to tackle one task.

“We have to really change not only our mindset, but to educate the new generation of students to solve problems that we can’t solve at this time,” said Mory Gharib.

Jason Henry is an investigative reporter with the Southern California News Group. Raised in Ohio, Jason began his career at a suburban daily near Cleveland before moving to California in 2013. He is a self-identified technophile, data nerd and wannabe drone pilot.